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| Serpentine Sackler Gallery, 2013, Two distinct parts come together to form a synthesis of old and new Photograph by Luke Hayes |
Dame Zaha Hadid's death on March 31st came as a shock to many of us, it's been only a couple of weeks and there has been a lot of unavoidable press on the topic. She was one of the famous Starchitects of our time, idolised by many and a celebrity in her own right. Since Hadid's passing we have all read various articles on her life, achievements and work. To be completely honest this has been the first time that I have truly wanted to explore her projects and to understand the depth of her contribution to our field, which is a shame in itself. I have enjoyed researching the "Queen of the curve" as Zaha later became known, I am sure I will continue to learn about her work after this mere introduction!
(Above is a short clip from the BBC, Hélène Binet on Zaha and photographing her projects)
I read Yasmin Shariff's tribute to the late Architect and I found a new appreciation of her fight as not only a woman but as a foreigner to a field which was primarily dominated by white males. Shariff describes the struggle, "very few people realise the misogynistic, racist and anti-architect environment she had to navigate in Britain. For Muslims, minorities and women, Zaha is a shining torch". Whilst Zaha completed her studies at the AA, approximately 6% of the profession was made up of women and now, almost 40 years later we can see an increase of around 18%. Our profession has come a long way and is continuing to do so.
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| The RIBA Royal Gold Medal 2016 Photograph by Sophie Mutevelian |
Hadid was the first female to be awarded the Pritzker Prize in 2004, she also twice won the RIBA Stirling Prize, firstly for her MAXXI Museum in Rome and then also for the Evelyn Grace Academy in London. After all of the challenges she faced in her career she truly earned the title of the first woman to be awarded the RIBA Gold Medal Award in 2016, almost 100 years after the Suffragette Ruth Lowy had encouraged the AA to accept female students. Her life's work was a legacy and she was rewarded for it in the later years of her career.
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| Evelyn Grace Academy, London, 2010, photograph by Luke Hayes |
Sir Peter Cook describes her contribution to the theory and practice of architecture as a "substantial body of work". She was awarded the prize because of the consistency in her work and the sheer scale of international projects she has undertaken across her career. Cook on Hadid, "If Paul Klee took a line for a walk, then Zaha took the surfaces that were driven by that line out for a virtual dance and then deftly folded them over and took them out for a journey into space". She established her practice in London, 1979 and almost 40 years later she has an accomplished and internationally recognised firm. Her interests lie in the connectors between architecture, landscape and geology. Zaha Hadid Architects is an innovative, technologically-driven and dynamic practice.
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| Painting by Zaha Hadid Architects, Vitra Fire Station, we can see how her influences translate into fluid architecture Image from zaha-hadid.com |
Zaha admired the work of 20th century Avant-Garde Artists and Architects. She was interested in the investigation and redevelopment of Russian Suprematism and Constructivism, which is why her early built projects communicate similar utopian ideologies. Hadid undertook a journey to discover fluidity and complexity in built spaces, as a result each project is stylistically identifiable as hers.
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| Vitra Fire Station, Weil am Rhein, Germany, 1993 Photograph by Christian Richters |
The Vitra Fire Station, Weil Am Rhein in Germany, first gained Zaha international recognition in 1993. The building is constructed of exposed, reinforced in-situ concrete with sharp edges. There is purposefully an exagguration of exposed edgings and lack of cladding to ensure the volume is understood as a simple prismatic piece. The idea behind the structure is for it to appear 'alert', ready to part and to explode at any required moment in time.
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| MAXXI Museum of 21st Century Art, Rome, 2009 Photograph by Iwan Baan |
The Stirling Prize winning MAXXI Museum of 21st Century Arts in Rome, 2009 is another noteworthy project. A contemporary building attempts to bind itself to a city of classical heritage as part of the wider scheme of addressing Rome's search for a modern and renewed identity. There is an active conversation between the building and it's surroundings, Hadid has offered views back into the city from a large window on the third floor.
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| London Aquatics Centre, London Olympic Park, 2012 Photograph by Luke Hayes |
The London Aquatics Centre, 2012, a distinctive and elegantly-curved building was designed for the Olympic Games as part of an infinite legacy. It is a celebration of the fluid and geometric nature of water in motion and subsequently the surrounding riverside landscapes of the Olympic Park. The famous roof dances above the ground in a wave-like form, sheltering the pool below. The masterplan itself contains a greater narrative between the axis of the three pools in the Aquatics Centre and the Stratford City Bridge.
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| The Heydar Aliyev Centre Baku, 2013 Photograph by Iwan Baan |
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| Photograph by Iwan Baan |
The Heydar Aliyev Centre Baku, 2013, rises from its surrounding landscape as a series of folding curves. The glass-fibre-reinforced concrete panels appear to grow from the external plaza, allowing visitors to flow from outside to inside and around the cultural centre. Hadid describes the building as an "architectural landscape where concepts of seamless spatial flow are made real - creating a whole new kind of civiv space for the city". She was proud of the centre and claimed it was one of her most significant building projects of recent time.
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| Hadid's 1000 Museum, Miami, USA, Under Construction. A new phase for the practice, without Zaha, there are as many as 37 projects to be finished in her honour. |
Dame Zaha Hadid, was a futuristic ambassador and a visionary of spatial design. Her practice I am sure will continue to demonstrate the values instilled upon them. They will go on to consistently design and to use advanced techniques and material/ construction processes. Her legacy will continue to live on and generations of almost architects will study her for their own structural, spatial, motivational and technological interests. I know I have merely touched upon a few of her career milestones, but I hope I have inspired you to read, visit or think about some of Zaha's achievements. Thank you for reading!
